Teenage Love Affair | s. cooper #LLTC (EDITING!)

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Kylah snickered at the reminder, "I was on my way here to tell you..." She shook her head, her golden-flecked gaze focused on Sharife's face, "I just wanted to tell you that-."

"I could stare into your eyes forever," Sharife murmured, gently placing one hand on the side of her face, and letting his thumb cascade back and forth along her cheekbone. Kylah exhaled and tilted her head to lean into Sharife's touch, their eyes still locked on each other's.

"I came here to tell you that I want... I wanna be with you, too," Kylah whispered, "You know if that's what you meant when you said it was up to me. This might be the fastest decision I've ever made which is saying something because I have a lot more important-."

Sharife interrupted her by lowering his mouth to hers, until all he could feel was the warmth of her lips, her arms connecting behind his neck, and the peace in his head. The kiss was lazy and slow and every so often his tongue would creep inside and then retreated so he wouldn't push her too far too fast.

"Talk too much, sweetheart," Sharife muttered before kissing the corner of her mouth, then her cheek, and then scattered a few kisses on the underside of her jaw, loving the groan Kylah released. He continued to press his lips to the start of her neck, the vibrations of her vocal cords right under the surface.

When he finally pulled back, Kylah's face was flushed, "I rant when I'm nervous, sorry."

"Who is it, Rife?" His father's voice called from inside the house, and Kylah stilled for a moment before attempting to pull her arms from around his neck. Sharife immediately pulled her flush against him, "C'mon," He said, nodding his head towards the open door.

Her eyes widened almost comically, "No, no, no. Your family's in-. Rife, no. They were inside while we were doing all that? No, no, no."

Sharife laughed, "They're not scary. C'mon," He tugged Kylah inside the warm foyer, their hands laced together, "It's my girl," He called back as he pushed the door closed with his palm.

When the couple appeared in the dining room, his father was first to look up, his eyes in a squint, "I know you. Aren't you in the top five in the country for gymnastics?"

"Yeah," Kylah smiled at the recognition, "You follow gymnastics?"

"I follow all the great athletes in Atlanta. You have a sports agent yet?" Omar Sr inquired.

"Okay! Kylah, everyone. Everyone, meet Kylah. Okay, let's go," Sharife attempted to pull Kylah out of the room.

"Now, hold on a minute, son," Omar Sr. gestured to Sharife's empty chair and then to the other empty chair next to where Mia was sitting, "Come join us."

Kylah met his eyes and shrugged before moving around the table to pull out a wooden chair and then sat with one leg crossed over the other. Sharife dragged a hand down the length of his face but resumed his old seat. The second he sat down, his twin brother released a very lifelike oink noise causing laughter from the rest of his siblings.

Kindall rolled her eyes, "Please ignore them. My children forget how to behave sometimes. Let me make you a plate."

"No, it's okay. Family dinner, it's nice to see it in real life and not on TV," Kylah's smile grew as she looked around the table. Kindall placed a white dinner plate loaded with everything she had made for dinner previously in front of Kylah who grinned and muttered the word 'thanks' before spinning the plate around so the salad was closest to her.

Omar Sr. reached for his beverage, "You don't have dinner with your parents?"

"Um, no. We're not close," Kylah bit her full bottom lip in consideration, her salad-filled fork still in her dominant hand, "Only on holidays and after I win a competition. It's okay, though. I'm usually at practice and they're usually at work or just busy."

There was a minute of silence as the Coopers looked around at each other at the admission before Te'a cleared her throat, "Practice every day?"

"Yeah," Kylah shrugged once more, "You guys are athletes, too. The work never stops right?"

Sharife smiled at his girlfriend, "Right."

"You think you can teach me how to do a backflip? Or a back handspring?" Mia blurted as Omar leaned toward Sharife, his voice low, "What happened to 'Brandon would kill you'? Isn't that why you told me not to go after her?"

Sharife's eyebrows scrunched for a moment at Omar's statement, the sound of Kylah and Mia's conversation continued, "I'll take my chances."

"Mhmm," Omar snickered before sitting straight up in his chair. Kylah's phone vibrated from a text message on the edge of the table. She released a low sigh before beginning to rise from her seat,  "Thank you so much for having me. My best friend stopped by and I forgot to tell my parents."

Sharife pushed back his chair, "Lemme walk you out."

Sharife shoved his hands into his front pockets as they walked side by side down the hallway, "That thing you said about your parents... Is that true?"

"About them working late?" Kylah glanced up at him.

"No," He shook his head, "About you guys not being close?"

Kylah sighed, "I gave up on that a long time ago. They're there for my competitions and they're on me about getting better at gymnastics and that's it. My family is BJ and his parents and Nyree and Cameron. I chose them and they chose me back," Kylah shrugged with one shoulder, tossing and turning her phone back and forth between each hand.

"I choose you too," Sharife replied and Kylah's lips parted to reveal a set of pearly whites, "I know." Her phone vibrated once more and she dropped her forehead in a show of exasperation, "I really gotta go. Ny's at my house and if I don't go now, she's gonna eat up all my snacks."

Sharife snickered before glancing behind him and further down the hallway, "You know if you wanna be a part of family dinners here, you can. You're always welcome."

"I appreciate that," Kylah began in a slow tone, "But I don't think that should be a thing. I don't wanna intrude." Apprehension was inked into her facial features and her hand was starting to inch toward the gold doorknob.

Sharife exhaled a little, "Okay. Drive home safe."

Kylah half-smiled before crossing over the wooden threshold and heading to where she had parked her car on the curb. Sharife waited until the girl was seated and driving away in the tomato-red vehicle to close the door behind him, unsatisfied.

The dining room was finally empty and the table had been cleared of the dishes, leaving only his plate still half-full. Sharife leaned forward to grasp the plate firmly in his dominant hand then strode away to the kitchen, placing the plate in the microwave.

He was still hungry.

NOTE FROM KY
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